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Thursday, July 23, 2015

WPR: A Look at the Push for Criminal Justice Reform
President Obama recently became the first president to visit a federal prison while in office. Wisconsin Public Radio host, Joy Cardin, held an interview with Ohio State University law professor, Douglas Berman, to talk about the significance of the president's visit. During the interview, Berman touched on many of the same issues as Bryan Stevenson in Just Mercy. In particular he spoke about inequality in our criminal justice system, what incarceration rates are like in Wisconsin, and why criminal justice reform matters to both Republicans and Democrats.

This is the first in a series of blog posts about issues brought up in the interview.Part 1: Obama Visits a Federal Prison

El Reno Correctional Institution, Photo: Federal Bureau of Prisons

With his remaining time in office, President Obama is working to improve the criminal justice system. On Thursday July 16th, he visited a federal prison in El Reno, Oklahoma. During the visit he met with six inmates. In addition to traveling to Oklahoma to talk about criminal justice reform, President Obama also stopped in Philadelphia to speak at an NAACP conference. At he conference he expressed his concern for the number of Americans in prison and how much it is costing the country. He said:

We have to consider whether this is the smartest way for us to both control crime and to rehabilitate individuals.

During his radio interview, Berman praised Obama for paying attention to this issue, as he feels that it is overdue. While he praised Obama for his efforts to make the criminal justice system more fair for the over-represented African Americans and Latinos in prison, Berman is hoping the president also works to correct the socioeconomic inequality, as poor people are also over-represented in prison.

Much of what Berman talks about in this interview is how criminal justice reform is being championed by both Democrats and Republicans. He explained Democrats have been connected to the issue because of their concern with racial disparities and mass incarceration. However in recent years more Republicans are expressing concerns about the racial disparities and how much mass incarceration costs taxpayers, particularly without much taxpayer benefit.

To read an NPR article about the president's visit to the federal prison click here.
To listen to the WPR interview click here.
To read Douglas Berman's Sentencing and Policy blog click here.